December at West Dean

I feel as though I'm in the wrong story- more White Rabbit in
Alice in Wonderland (its late! its late!) than bringing December
news from West Dean on time. Who says there isn't much to do in the
garden in winter. West Dean Gardens will remain open until Sunday
21st so there is still time for you to visit our Gardens Shop for Christmas gifts and enjoy the
delights of the Gardens Restaurant; best to get in quick as we
will be closed throughout January 2015, reopening on February 1st.
At this time of year you can take advantage of our reduced entry
fees to the gardens too.

I'd like to report that the annual glasshouse cleaning was achieved in record time
this year with five absolute garden troopers putting their backs
into cleaning our lovely glasshouses thoroughly from top to bottom
and inside and out. That is all 12 (one is being rebuilt) of them
plus our four sets of frames. What a herculean task! Despite the
seemingly endlessness of this activity the high standard of
cleanliness was maintained to the end, so these old glasshouses
will once again dazzle the garden visitors in 2015.

Winter weather seems a moveable feast these days, and the milder
late autumn and early winter weather saw an unseasonal surge in
grass growing. In the past we would have been able to almost stop
mowing by Christmas but not this year. As I write, Shaun the
Kitchen Gardener is mowing the orchard, reducing the height of the
wild flower sward so that bulbs will shine like jewels on a green
carpet early in the New Year. Tim, our Mr Fix It, has been
attending to the rest of the grass mowing in the gardens praying
that the growth will stop soon. Surely it will!

Anne the Border Queen and Jack the Gardener are patrolling the
borders in the main body of the gardens, clearing the herbaceous
growth in preparation for the bulb bonanza next year. They are
being ably supported by our wonderful band of volunteers. Although
most of our bulbs are naturalised in lawns, there are pockets of
them throughout the borders and clearing now means they develop
without having their heads chopped off if this task was left until
later. Bulbs transform gardens, are a worthy investment, and a joy
to behold at the beginning of the new season.

Those trusty chaps at the end of hedge trimmers are shaping the
greenery through the gardens. Green topiarised shapes set against
the informality of the garden landscape, shine through in winter or
at any time of the year really and when it snows or is frosty they
add a welcome quality to the garden in winter and become really
photogenic. If photography is your thing West Dean Gardens provides
opportunities for dramatic images throughout the season and if
you'd like to learn more about taking cracking photographs there
are courses on photography at West Dean College, see
our website for details.

If you are new to the place make sure you beat the boundaries of
the whole Garden and Arboretum throughout your visits. St Roche's Arboretum is a real treat at this time of
year and provides a destination for a winter stompwith your friends
and family.